Bee Gees single by single thread

Despite listening to the song 1000 times, I've never realized that until today!

 

I'd never noticed either lol.

 

Interesting, because I noticed it immediately! It's probably because I had the 45 first, before I ever heard "New York Mining Disaster" in stereo (on the Best of Bee Gees LP).

 

NYMD 1941 is admittingly is not high on my list of favorites when it comes to their singles.
It is a catchy enough tune and a good start for them though.

 

To Love Somebody (1967)

Released: June 1967
B-side: Close Another Door
Charts: #6 (Australia), #17 (USA), #9 (Canada), #9 (Netherlands), #19 (Germany)

 

"To Love Somebody" is a song written by Barry and Robin Gibb. Produced by Robert Stigwood, it was the second single released by the Bee Gees from their international debut album, Bee Gees 1st, in 1967. The song's B-side was "Close Another Door". The single was reissued in 1980 on RSO Records with "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart" as its flipside. The song ranked at number 94 on NME magazine's "100 Best Tracks of the Sixties". It was a minor hit in the UK and France. It reached the top 20 in the US. It reached the top 10 in Canada.

In a 2017 interview with Piers Morgan's Life Stories, Barry was asked "of all the songs that you've ever written, which song would you choose?" Barry said that "To Love Somebody" was the song that he'd choose as it has "a clear, emotional message".

The song has been recorded by many other artists, including Nina Simone, Janis Joplin, Roberta Flack, Jimmy Somerville, Michael Bolton, Billy Corgan, Rod Stewart, Michael Bublé and Hank Williams Jr..

Origins and lyrics
At the request of Robert Stigwood, the band's manager, Barry and Robin Gibb wrote "To Love Somebody", a soulful ballad in the style of Sam & Dave or The Rascals, for Otis Redding. Redding came to see Barry at the Plaza in New York City one night. Robin claimed that "[Otis Redding] said he loved our material and would Barry write him a song".

The Bee Gees recorded "To Love Somebody" at IBC Studios, London in March 1967 and released it as a single in mid-July 1967 in the US. Redding died in an aeroplane crash later that year, before having a chance to record the song. The song was recorded around April 1967 with "Gilbert Green" and "End of My Song" at the IBC Studios in London, England.

Robin said, "Everyone told us what a great record they thought it was, Other groups all raved about it but for some reason people in Britain just did not seem to like it." Barry said, "I think the reason it didn't do well here was because it's a soul number, Americans loved it, but it just wasn't right for this country".

Barry Gibb explained in a June 2001 interview with Mojo magazine:

It was for Robert. I say that unabashedly. He asked me to write a song for him, personally. It was written in New York and played to Otis but, personally, it was for Robert. He meant a great deal to me. I don't think it was a homosexual affection but a tremendous admiration for this man's abilities and gifts.

Robert being the Bee Gee's manager, Robert Stigwood.

The simple title refrain of the chorus, "You don't know what it's like, Baby, you don't know what it's like, To love somebody...the way I love you" has the effect of being at once heartbreaking and triumphant, a self-pitying put-down to an unrequited love. "There's... a certain kind of light that never shone on me... You ain't got to be so blind, I'm a man, can't you see what I am?, I live and breathe for you, But what good does that do, If I ain't got you?".

To Love Somebody (song) - Wikipedia

 

Two cover versions reached the UK top 10: one by Nina Simone (1969, #5) and by Jimmy Sommerville (1990, #8).



Michael Bolton's version peaked at #11 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and at #16 in the UK in 1992.

 

When people think of the summer of '67, the first two genres that pop into their heads are psychedelia and sunshine pop. They tend to forget that blue-eyed soul was also very big at the time, with records like "Mercy Mercy Mercy," "A Girl Like You" and "Expressway To Your Heart" all making the top 10. "To Love Somebody" was certainly another great example. One of those records where the big arrangement with what sounds like a full orchestra works perfectly.

Sadly, the flipside is not particularly memorable. A mish-mosh of tempo and meter changes, that just doesn't seem to hold together in the same way that, say "Heroes & Villains" from around that same time period does.

 

I forgot to mention the UK chart peak, #41.

 

Robins plaintive cries at the end are what make the song imo.
It is a fine song all the way but that is what takes it to the next level of emotion and angst as if a love has been lost.

 

To Love Somebody:

Definitely one of my favorite songs of theirs. The idea that two TEENAGERS came up with this song is mind-boggling. It's catchy. It's passionate. It's timeless...I could go on, but you get the idea lol.

Close Another Door:

I actually quite like this song. It's catchy enough, and I do love the part towards the end where Robin delivers a really passionate vocal.

And I've always liked this early clip of them performing the song:

 

"To Love Somebody" is a terrific song. When I first got the 45 in 1974, during my earliest Bee Gees binge, I recognized it immediately. I'd certainly heard it before, probably as far back as the late 1960s, when I wasn't paying close attention to titles and artists. It resonated even more when I began to experience unrequited love in 1977 or so.

It's just always been there. Because of that, I sometimes forget both how much I like it and how great it is. For example, through 47 volumes it still isn't on any of my A Few of My Favorite Things CD-Rs. But it deserves to be.

"Close Another Door," on the other hand, is just weird. Parts of it are wonderful, especially the coda, which has nothing to do with the rest of the song. But the three obvious segments don't quite work together. For one, it sounds as if they are in three different keys, which would be OK if the a cappella beginning didn't so obviously go musically flat (or the "Close Another Door" section wasn't sharp). They needed a producer as skilled at putting two takes in different keys and different speeds together as George Martin with "Strawberry Fields Forever."

I don't know if it's still true, but at one time, "To Love Somebody" was the most frequently covered Brothers Gibb composition.

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In the July 8, 1967 Billboard, "To Love Somebody" was predicted to make the top 20 again. Its singles reviewer wrote, "Change of pace for the 'N. Y. Mining Disaster' hit British group. Following up that smash, this smooth, easy beat ballad should put them right back up there at the top of the Hot 100." For the second straight single, Record World placed "To Love Somebody" as one of its four front-page "Sleepers of the Week" on July 8, writing, "The ballad 'To Love Somebody' ... is well written; the group, the Gee Bees [sic], sing it well. All the side needs to fly is exposure."

It actually did slightly worse on the charts than "New York Mining Disaster 1941." Billboard gave "To Love Somebody" its highest U.S. peak at #17; it got to #18 in Record World, but only to #24 in Cash Box. "Close Another Door" didn't chart.

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Unlike with the Bee Gees' first U.S. single, I don't hear any significant differences between the mono and stereo mixes here. I've read that the drum beats during "Close Another Door" are more forceful in the mono mix.

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As was true of the prior single, Atco used five pressing plants to manufacture "To Love Somebody." After all the issues with the Bestway copies of "New York Mining Disaster 1941," and probably other problems with other records from Bestway, Atco never again used the plant for a Bee Gees 45. It replaced Bestway with American Record Pressing of Owosso, Michigan (label code AM), which used vinyl, but was not known for high-quality copies.

There is a greater consistency with "To Love Somebody" 45s; for the most part, they all list the same publisher, running time, producer, etc. But they still have anomalies, mostly in the perimeter print. Labels from the same plant can have different type at the bottom, an issue not seen with "Mining Disaster" 45s.

The catalog number is Atco 45-6503 except as noted below. The matrix number of "To Love Somebody" is 67C-12609 and "Close Another Door" is 67C-12610. On the labels, the time of the former is listed as 2:55 and of the latter, 3:21. The publisher on all copies is "Nemperor" on both sides.

Known white-label promos came from Specialty (SP) and Plastic Products (PL) on vinyl and Monarch (MO) on styrene.

Even with fewer anomalies, I know of 10 different stock-copy pressings as follows. The order in which they are listed does not necessarily indicate the order in which they were manufactured. As I did with NYMD, they are arranged alphabetically by pressing plant.

AM (American Record Pressing, vinyl):
-- perimeter print is "ATCO RECORDS 1841 BROADWAY, N.Y. N.Y."; catalog number is "6503" and is at the bottom of the label rather than at the right, where it is on copies from other manufacturers

CP (Columbia Pitman, styrene, no code on label):
-- perimeter print is "Division of ATLANTIC RECORDS, New York, N.Y."

MO (Monarch, styrene):
-- first pressing perimeter print, which matches that on the MO white-label promo, is "DISTRIBUTED BY ATCO RECORD SALES, 1841 BROADWAY, N.Y., N.Y."
-- second pressing perimeter print is "MFG. BY ATLANTIC RECORDING CORP., 1841 BROADWAY, NEW YORK, N.Y."

PL (Plastic Products, vinyl):
-- first pressings have perimeter print "Division of ATLANTIC RECORDS, New York, N.Y."
-- an error pressing with the above perimeter print has the following credit on "Close Another Door":
Accompaniment
Bill Shepherd
Directed by
-- later copies, with a smaller typeface, have the perimeter print "MFG. BY ATLANTIC RECORDING CORP., 1841 BROADWAY, NEW YORK, N.Y."

SP (Specialty, vinyl):
-- one pressing has perimeter print "Division of ATLANTIC RECORDS, New York, N.Y."
-- another pressing has perimeter print "Division of ATLANTIC RECORDS, 1841 B'way, N.Y., N.Y."
-- third pressing (?), later than both of the above, has perimeter print "MFG. BY ATLANTIC RECORDING CORP., 1841 BROADWAY, NEW YORK, N.Y."

 

A classic. "To Love Somebody" is at its core, an r&b song albeit wrapped up in the heavily orchestrated ballad style that the Bee Gees were known for at the time. Understandably, the r&b element isn't as discernible here as it would be on the hits that Gibb brothers would have almost a decade later during their "disco' period.

 

Just found this version of "To Love Somebody" recently (says it's from BBC Radio). Kind of garbled, but lovely nonetheless:

 

Speaking from the perspective of someone who is in the U.S., was born in 1970 (so any exposure I would have to these songs would be as a recurrent/oldie), and is no more than a casual Bee Gees fan: Despite their similar chart performance when new, I'm struck that "To Love Somebody" apparently became a permanent part of the Oldies canon in the U.S., while "New York Mining Disaster 1941" didn't.

Echoing what Tim said, I feel like I've known "To Love Somebody" for as long as I can remember. But I can't ever remember consciously hearing "New York Mining Disaster 1941" on the radio. I have long been aware that the Bee Gees' first U.S. hit was a song called "New York Mining Disaster 1941", if for no other reason than its distinctive title. I want to say I can remember Casey Kasem mentioning this factoid on American Top 40 years ago, and I've owed some of Joel Whitburn's chart books as far back as the late '80s, where the song title would be been sitting right there on the page if I flipped through the "B" section. But I never sought out the song until looking it up on YouTube the other day as I was reading this thread, and upon listening to it, it didn't ring any bells as something I'd heard before.

 

A great TV show performance from 1967:

 

absolutely marvelous song, can't believe it wasn't a number one

 

Perhaps the low UK chart position is due to their sartorial missteps?!?

 

Yes simply glorious song. Beautiful. Can't believe it wasn't a number 1 song in the UK at least.

 

I suspect it had a lot to do with the fact that To Love Somebody was released at the same time as Bee Gees 1st in the UK, and both sides of the single (as well as both sides of the previous single) were on the LP. And the LP sold enough copies to make it to number eight*.

* no personal connection!

 

Backing up slightly, I have to say I quite like this video "promo" of I Can't See Nobody:

 

Given their questionable 70s fashion choices (white jumpsuits anyone?) I'm willing to forgive their 60s fashion choices lol.

Music's great either way lol.

 

One of the great songs of the 20th century. Deserved to be a chart topper on both sides of the Atlantic - not sure exactly what went wrong with its promotion. Somebody screwed up. Written for Otis, who sadly didn't live to record it. Nina Simone did, and had the UK hit the Bee Gees should have had with it. Normally you can blame the production when a great song fails to chart well, but the production on this one is achingly beautiful perfection as well, and it sounds great for the era.

In spite of its mediocre chart placement at the time it became a staple on American oldies radio - I was perfectly familiar with the song growing up in the '70s and routinely heard it straight into the '90s. So I guess we should be thankful the song eventually became the staple it deserved to be from the start.

Amazing that Barry was writing these incredible R&B numbers as not much more than a kid. It would be about 7 more years though before they finally became the focus of his output. Shortly thereafter, the Bee Gees ruled the earth for half a decade.

Listening to this perfect song often makes me wonder what would have happened if Barry had focused solely on writing R&B tunes from this point forward. How many indelible classics would he have penned during this period, for Aretha, Dionne, Dusty, Tom Jones, Nina Simone and the other great soul singers of this era (as well as himself and his brothers)?

 

Both songs are superb, "I Can't See Nobody" is for me the superior of the two. The melody, arrangement, and vocal performances are a winner. Grade A Bee Gees.

 

Another Bee Gees Grade A winner. Perfect pop songwriting, immaculate melody and harmony, really superb string arrangement, and nice soulful tune and superb Bee Gees vocal performance.